Credit file



R.A .-1. wooD April 29, 1930.

CREDIT FILE Filed Jan. 12, 1923 2 Sheets-Sheet l 2U-hw Apil 29, 1930. R. J. wooD CREDIT FILE Filed Jan. 12, 1923v FIG.4

. FIG-.5

2 Sheets-,Sheet 2 Ro-dne J. wood Y M ,M

Patented Apr. 29, 17930 UNirsn srarss Paramorricr RODNEY J'. WOOD, OF DAYTON, OHO, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNIVIENTS, T0, THE NATIONAL CASH REGISTER COMPANY, OF DAYTON', OHIO, A CORPORATION OF MARYLAND CREDIT FLE Application filed January 12, 1923. Serial No. 612,182.

This invention relates generally to ling systems and has particular reference to filing cabinets for filing memoranda regarding transactions with customers in retail stores.

One object of the invention is to simplify the structure, as well as the means and mode i of' operation of such devices, whereby they will not only be cheapened in construction, but will be more efficient in use, capable of being easily and rapidly Operated, and unlikely to get out of repair.

Another `object is to provide an improved lile to which additional units may-be added to increase the capacity ofthe file.

Another object is to provide a single set of filing units for both temporary and permanent filing in each file leaf by having a designating member separating the temporaryl 'form or embodiment of which is hereinafter described with reference to the drawings which accompany and form part of this specification. .f

Of said drawings: I

Fig. 1 is a right side elevation of the filing device with the right hand side of the housing omitted.

Fig. 2 is a detail of a portion of the housing taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. l.

3 is a detail of a portion of the housino'.

iig. 4 is a section, Apartly broken taken on the line l--l of Fig. l.

Fig. 5 is a front view of an'index unit.

Fig. 6 is a detail end view of a portion of an index unit.

away,

rlhe improved device includes a number ofV units comprise a plurality of 'leaves which,y serve as both temporary and permanent files. v

At the end of the day, or any other desired period, the contents may be transferred from .Y visible to the merchant.

' slips that are to be changed from the temporary to the permanent position.

There are several ways in which the'invention disclosed in this case might be used. One practical and efficient way in which it may be used, is as follows. l

Considering the lile unit disclosed in Fig. 4, let it be assumed that when the merchant comes to his place of business in the morning, all of the account slips for the various customers, namely, Swam Slick, etc., are

filed behind the horizontally projecting in-V dicating arms, in which conditions of the parts all of such indicating arms are clearly Assume that customer Slick comes in the store and makes a purchase of several articles. The proprietor fills out an account slip, goes to his file, and taking hold of the left-hand leaf 55, the one bearing the name Swain swings the same outwardly withoutJ raising the indicator arm associated with Slicks leaf, and places the slip in the space presented between the raised leaf and the horizontally projecting indicator arm. He then allows the first leaf to assume its normal position, thus holding the account slip for customer Slick in 'the temporary tiling position between the ina purchase, and the proprietor after filling outj the slip, takes hold of the fourth leaf from the left-hand end, or in other words, the leaf bearing the name Tysonf and raises the same, after which he places Tilers slip between the raised leaf and the horizontal intomers to make purchases are Tomy,,

Umer, and Ullen After making out the slips for these customers he tiles them as he has tiled the two preceding ones for Slick and Tiler, that is, in front 0l the indicator arms associated with the leaves bearing the names of those customers.

Customer Zahn nialres a purchase and the proprietor takes hold ot the leal bearing the name Young raises the same, and places the slip in front of the finger associated with the Zahn leaf.`

This procedure is followed all through the day, and in the evening when the merchant wishes to checl; up on the number ot customers that have been in during the day, and enter their accounts in his ledger, he can iinmediately ascertain how many there were, and who they were by looking at the lile units, suchY as disclosed in Fig. 4. Due to the `act that the indicator arms -for Swam Sli`m, Tyson and Youngfj are visible, he knows that they have not made any purchases that day, and he can' also ascertain that all of the customers that have slips placed in frontof their associated indicator arms, have made purchases during the day.

Now, when it comes to transferring his accounts into the ledger it is only iiecessaryor him to take tiie slips that line in front of the indicator lingers, because he knowstliat amounts on those slips lying behind the indicator lingers have been previously posted, as the customers with whom those slips are associated made no purchases during the day. Therefore, he taires customer Sliclrs7 slip and posts the Vfigures thereon in the ledger, then taking hold el the lett-hand leali, or in other words, the one bearing the naine Swain raises the saine tar enough to raise the index linger associated with Sliclrs `leaf, away from the leaf bearing Slicks name, and tiles Slicks slip in the permanent filling section behind the linger and in front ot' Slicks7 leaf. He then takes Tilers slip and posts it and raises the leaf `bearing the name Tyson7 liar enough to raise the linger associated with Tilers7 leafl away from such leaf, so that he can place Tilers slip between Tilers leat and the horizontally projecting indicating arm.

He does this with all ot the slips that show that the customers made purchases during the day, and his tile is then ready for the next days' business, all of the indicator arms now being visible in front of the permanently tiled slips.

The device is so constructed that additional units may be added from time to time to increase the capacity or" the tile and'take care ol' additional accounts.

\ The front of the casingl consists of a door 16 (Fig. l) attached to the main portion ot the casing by a hinge 17. The top of the casing comprises a movable cover 18 with a llange 1S formed on the front end to overlap the Jfront door 16. Formed on the right left sides ot' the cover 18 arellanges 2O and 21 (Figs. 2 and 3) having elongated openings 22 into u .iich project pins 23 and 24 carried by blocks 25 secured to the housing 15. A latch secured to the `tront door 16 is provided to nornially secure the cover in place. This latch comprises a hinge 26, one portion of which is secured to the front door 16 while the other portion supports a rotatable knob 27 having 0n its lower eind a button 28 which cooperates with transversely extending elongated'opcning` 30 in a cupped retaining disk 29 secured to the under side ol the cover By giving the lrnob member 27 a quarter turn in either direction trom the position shown in Fig'. 1, the latch may be opened to permit it to be disengaged from the cover which may then be raised at its forward end with the pins 23 and 24 (Fig. 4) as the pivots. The elongated openings 22 permit the cover to be moved to the rear of the casing into a position at rightangles to the normal position, thus providing easy access to thetiles.

Secured to the casing near the right and left sides are two parallel liliiig unit supporting plates 36 and 37 (Fig. 1). rThe plate 36 is provided with a plurality ot holes 8S whil the plate 37 is provided with a plurality ot holes 38 and slots 39. The holes and slots in thesevplates constitute pivot bearings for lugs 41 carried by tiling units 40.

The last hole and slot near the rear ends of the plates 36 and 37 are located lower thai; adjacent holes and slots to render the lile supported thereby easily distinguishable frointhe others, as it may be desirable to "....e this as a special tile.

The number ot units in a lile varies according to the number or" accounts. Referring to Fig. 1, there are eleven units shown, which represent the normal number for this size ille. These units normally incline slightly toward thevrear ot the casing, resting against a rod 42 supported at each end in slot-ted plates 43 and 44 secured to the sides ot the casing. As additional liles are added, the rod 42 is moved to a new position in the slotted plates. A resilient clamping plate 45. secured at each end to the plate 37, normally retains the hand'lug 41 ot the auxiliary units in the slots 39. When additional units are installed, this plate 45 is adapted to spring a sullicient amount to permit the lugs 41 to enter the. slots 39. As shown in cross section in 4, -the upper portion of the plate 45 is bent outwardly to the left, to cause this plate to spring awaylrom the plate 3'1" upon hei engaged 'byv the lett hand lug 41 ot the filing unit as itis put in place. litter the pivot luglpassses oliithe bent over llaige of the resilient clamping plate 45, said plate springs bac-k to its normal position, thus holding the filing units in their operative positions. Flanges 46 (Fig. 1) formed on the filing units supporting plate 36 and 37, and extend angle shelfV 50 near the bottoni', vextending across its full width and upon which th memoranda rests when placed in the files.

Each unit 40 contains a plurality of overlapping file leaves (Fig. 4) hinged on their left hand edges to the unit 40 by rods 56 supported by lugs 57 formed on the unit.

A'torsion spring 58 entwined about'the rod 56 `retains the leaf in normal position, as shown in Fig. 4. At their upper 'ends the leaves are formed with pockets 59 to receive cards54 bearing identiiication data.

kMounted upon the rod l56 of each leaf hinge is an indicator arm 60 (Fig. 4) which extends horizontally across the leaf 55 with the right hand end exposed to view when the sales slips are in their permanent positions, which is back of this arm. ln temporary tiling of the slips they are placed in front of the arms 60, as shown by the second, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, and tenth slips in Fig. 4, so that when the time comes for placing the various slips in their permanent positions,

they are readily detected as no arms appearr in front of these slips. In other words, the

visible horizontally disposed indicator arms 60 indicate to the proprietor, which of the customers have notv made any purchases during the day, and tell him that he need pay no attention to those slips underlying the indicater arms 60 when it comes to posting the amounts in his ledger. left hand side is partially concealed by a cover leaf 61 similar in construction to the other leaves.

In gaining access to the various files, the front door 16 of the casing is moved forwardly on its pivot to permit a forward swinging movement of a cover 65 (Fig. 1) pivoted at its lower edge in the same manner as the file units. this cover is under the control of two links 66, connected at their forward ends to lugs 67 secured to said cover 65. These links 66 are provided with elongated openings 68 into Vwhich project screw studs 69 mounted in brackets 7 O secured to the sides of the casing. With the cover 65 in its forward position the first file unit is exposed to view and is accessible for filing sales slips.V The remaining units also may be rendered accessible The first slip on the` rlhe forward movement ofV for filing sales slips by moving oneor more file units forwardly until arrested by the cover 65 or their preceeding unit.

An index to the various files enables the operator to readily locate a file. This index is in the form of cards 74 (Fig. 5) inserted in grooves formed in a plate 75 having pivot lugs 76 and 77. The lug 76 has a bearingV in a round hole in a bracket 78 secured to the right side of the casing 15, and the lug 77 is pivoted in an angular slot, enlarged at the lower end, to form a bearing, in a bracket 7S) secured to the leftside of the casing 15. The lugs 76 and 77 are rectangular projections, similar to the lugs 41 (Fig. 1), and lie in the plane of the index plate 75. The cards contain the names of customers, alphabetically arranged, together with a number representing the position .of the account in the file. For example, account 119 signifies that it is the ninth tile in the eleventh unit, as shown in .4. Referring to Fig. 1, the index plates are shown in their normal positions, with the Vlower plate supported at its forward end on a rod 8Oy supported at each end in slots in the plates 43 and 44. This bottom plate 75 may be supported by any other suitable means. The upper index plate 75 normally lies on the lower plate. The index cards being on the under side of the plates, it is necessary to raise them to a vertical position when referring to the index, as shown in Fig. 5. Y

i While the form of mechanism herein shown and described is admirably adapted to fulfill the objects primarily stated, it is to be understood that it is not intended to confine the invention to the one form or embodiment here in disclosed, for it is susceptible of embodiment in various forms, all coming within the scope of the claims whichA follow.

What is claimed is f 1. In a filing device, a file unit, a plurality of vertically disposed overlapping leaves carried by the unit between which data sheets may befinserted, and a swinging member for each leaf, the indicator members each mounted to swing relatively to their respective leaves, behind which indicator'members data sheets may be placed for permanent filing and in front of which indicator members data sheets may be placed for temporary fil-v ing the free ends of the Aindicator members extending beyond the free edgesjof the pre-` ceding leaves.

2. ln a filing device, a plurality of file units, a pluralityof overlapping` swinging members attached to each file unit to retain sales slips, and vswinging indicating means located behind certain of said swinging members to coact with and swing relatively to the next succeeding swinging member for separating temporarily filed sales slips from permanently led slips.

3. In Ya Vfiling device, a plurality Vof filing units; pivot lugs on said units; means com- Cil prising a supporting plate having open slots to support one lug of each unit; a resilient clamping member secured to said supporting plate and having its loweredge normally in position to contact the upper edges of said lugs, said clamping member being adapte-d to spring away from the supporting plate, and spring back to normal position; and an inclined flange on the clamping member adapted to be operated upon by the pivot lugs as the tiling units are inserted, to spring the clamping member aside to permit the lugs to pass by it and into the slots in the supporting plate, after which the resilient member springs back and contacts the upper edges of the lugs to maintain the inserted filing units in operative positions.

1l. In a filing device, the combination of a plurality of successivel arranged swinging supporting members for retaining both permanently and temporarily filed slips, and an indicator associated with each member to distinguish the permanently tiled slips each indicator mounted to swing relatively to its associated member from the temporarilj tiled slips.

5. ln a filing device, the combination of a plurality of swinging members for retaining on their faces, both permanently and temporarily filed slips, an indicator associated with each swinging member to separate the permanently filed slips from the temporarily liled slips, and resilient means to press the swinging members against the indicators to maintain the indicators in their normal effective positions.

6. ln a iling cabinet, the combination with a casing; filing units suitably hinged within the casing in a horizontal plane to swing towards and from the front of the cabinet; a series of overlapping filing leaves individually7 hinged at one vertical side to their re spective filing units; and springs to yieldinglv retain the overlapping leaves in their overlapping positions; of a spring-pressed indicator arm associated with each leaf and swinging on the same hinge therewith to coaet with the next succeeding leaf.

'7. ln a filing cabinet, the combination with a casing; filing units suitably hinged within the casing in a horizontal plane to swing towards and from the front of the cabinet; a series of hinge members supported Yon and extending in spaced relation horizontally across the face of a filing unit; a series of overlapping spring-pressed filing leaves connected to the respective hinge members; and a spring-pressed indicator arm associated with each of the filing leaves to extend across the face of such leaf to a point beyond the free edge of the next preceding leaf.

8. In a filing cabinet, the combination with a casing; filing units suitably hinged within the casing in a horizontal plane to swing torwards and from the iront of the cabinet; a

series of hinge members supported on and'A va casing; filing units suitably hinged within the casing in a horizontal plane to swing towards and from the front of the cabinet; a series of hinge members supported on and extending vin spaced relation horizontally across the face of a ling unit; a series of overlapping spring-pressed filing leaves connected to the respective hinge members; spring-pressed indicator arms connectedie spectively, to the same hinge'members the iling leaves, and extending across the face of each tiling leaf, the indicator arms asso ciated with certain of the filing leaves being connected to the hinge members for the next preceding filing leaves, respectively.

ln testimony whereof l alix my signature.

RODNEY J. TVVOGD. 

